The Acts of Famous National Councils of the Reformed Churches in France, 26 (2nd Charenton) · Chapter 4 – Chapter 5
CHAP. IV. The Moderator's Reply to this Speech.
28. THE Lord Commiſſioner having finiſhed his Speech, Prayers were offered up to God for the Preſervation of his Majeſty's Sacred Perſon, for the Proſperity of his Government, for the Settlement of the publick Peace of the Nation, and for the Glory of his Crown: And moſt humble Thanks were rendred unto his Majeſty for the Continuance of his Favour and Royal Benignity towards the Churches, who have none, nor deſire to hold any Intelligence or Correſpondence with Strangers, but do proteſt unanimouſly, that they will next and immediately under God depend wholly and ſolely on his Majeſty's Protection and Soveraign Authority. And it was reſolved, that as to the firſt Particular propounded by the Lord Galland his Majeſty's Commiſſioner, that although the Cauſe of ſending thoſe Royal Commiſſioners into our Eccleſiaſtical Synods, was from divers falſe Reports ſpread abroad and taken up againſt thoſe Synods moſt unjuſtly, and to their great prejudice and damage, and that it had occaſioned the former National Synods moſt humbly to petition his Majeſty, that he would be pleaſed to leave the Churches in their ancient State of Liberty: yet foraſmuch as his Majeſty hath ordained that no more Petitions ſhould be preſented him to this purpoſe, the Churches do acquieſce in his Majeſty's Pleaſure, ſith he will have this his Ordinance inviolably obſerv'd: and this Synod doth yield an intire Obedience to the King's Will, and the Order preſcribed by his Majeſty, whereof the Churches hope to reap the Fruits promiſed them, in their Eſtabliſhment and better Subſiſtence for the future, and approbation of their Innocency; and the rather becauſe the laſt National Synods of Charenton and Caſtres have already taſted of them, and been in a more eſpecial manner aided by the Prudence, Equanimity and good Conduct of his Lordſhip the Lord Galland. Therefore a Decree paſt, That conformably to his Majeſty's Intention, our Synodical Aſſemblies ſhould ſubject themſelves to a preciſe obſervation of his Majeſty's Declaration made in the Year 1623, about ſending Commiſſioners unto Synods and Colloquies: And his Majeſty ſhall be moſt humbly petitioned to enjoin thoſe his Commiſſioners whom he ſhall be pleaſed to ſend into the Provinces, not to abuſe his Majeſty's Name or Authority, to the raiſing of new Difficulties which may deprive the Churches of the Effects of his Royal Bounty.
29. And whereas his Majeſty, by his Declaration of the Year 1623, hath forbidden our Churches to receive into the Paſtoral Office ſuch Perſons as are born in foreign Countries, out of his Juriſdiction; and divers Provincial Synods conceived that thoſe Perſons were excepted who were born in thoſe States allied unto his Majeſty, and under the Covert of his Royal Protection; wherein alſo they were confirmed by the Commiſſioners, in whoſe Preſence, and no where elſe, ſome few of thoſe Miniſters had been received. Now our ſaid Lord Commiſſioner having at this inſtant aſſured us, that as it was his Majeſty's Intention to comprehend under the name of Strangers, all Perſons born out of the Kingdom without exception; ſo alſo that he is pleaſed to deal favourably with all thoſe who have been admitted ſince the Year 1623, and to repute them as his natural born Subjects: this Aſſembly intreateth the ſaid Lord Commiſſioner to continue his good Offices unto our Churches, and chargeth the Deputies which ſhall be ſent unto his Majeſty, to preſent him our moſt humble Requeſts, that thoſe aforeſaid Paſtors may be comprized in that his Act of Grace, and that for the future all others ſo born may be inſtituted, and inducted into the Paſtoral Cure of our Churches, in the Preſence of his Commiſſioners, as if they had been natural born Frenchmen.
30. And as for the third and fourth Articles in his Lordſhip's Speech, the Synod hath, upon very juſt Grounds, intreated his Lordſhip to aſſure his Majeſty, that the Churches ſixing themſelves more and more in the obſervation of thoſe Reglements taken up in the two laſt National Synods, and with which his Majeſty is fully ſatisfied, will take all poſſible care, that no Complaints upon thoſe Accounts may be ever hereafter brought unto his Majeſty. And as for that particular Buſineſs of Monſieur Salbert, this Aſſembly, deferring all Obedience to his Majeſty's Pleaſure, and leaving the ſaid Salbert in that Eſtate wherein he is at preſent, doth yet notwithſtanding judg themſelves bound by the Laws of Charity, to have recourſe unto his Majeſty's Goodneſs on his behalf: And therefore we moſt humbly beſeech his Majeſty, out of his innate Clemency, to remove the Tokens of his juſt Indignation againſt him, and to let him ſhare and participate in that ſame Royal Favour, which he has vouchſafed and extended unto others, involv'd with himſelf in the Miſeries of the late Troubles.
31. And whereas a certain Book hath been ſeen by us, bearing Monſieur Beraud's Name, whoſe Preface is already condemned by the Lords of his Majeſty's moſt Honourable Privy-Council, and that we are required to examine and cenſure both it and him: After hearing of the ſaid Profeſſor Beraud, he did ingenuouſly acknowledg himſelf the Author of it, but alſo that it was extorted from him by mere Force, and through the Malignity of the Times, in the late Confuſions; and that it was never in his Thoughts or Intention to grant a Licenſe unto Eccleſiastical Perſons to ſhed Blood; and thoſe Words of which he is accuſed, having occaſioned an Expoſition quite contrary to his Judgment, he declareth with all poſſible Sincerity, and as in the Preſence of God, that he diſapproveth of the Ambiguity in which thoſe Expreſſions are there couched, and deteſteth from his very Soul the Conſequences which are thence deduced, proteſting that his Belief is intirely conformable to that of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom, which have, according to the holy Scriptures, decided in our former National Synods, that Paſtors ſhould in no wiſe intrude themſelves into the Adminiſtration of State-matters, becauſe they he wholly alien and foreign to their Profeſſion: and therefore the Argument is more valid, that they cannot, without contradiction to God's holy Word, and the Confeſſion of our Churches founded upon it, ſtretch out their Hands to draw Blood from any one, or engage in any military Factions. This Aſſembly therefore confirming the Decrees of former National Synods, and grievouſly cenſuring the ſaid Beraud for having raſhly and to ill purpoſe uſed thoſe ſcandalous Expreſſions, tending to eſtabliſh an erroneous Doctrine, declared once again, That it doth reject and condemn that Propoſition extracted out of the Book of the ſaid Beraud, and forbiddeth him and all other Profeſſors in our Univerſities, and Miniſters in our Churches, to teach or write any ſuch Doctrine for time to come, upon pain of incurring all Eccleſiaſtical Cenſures.
32. And as for thoſe ſharp Words mentioned by his Lordſhip the Commiſſioner, the Churches are utter Strangers to them, having declared the Word of God with all Modeſty and Meekneſs, however they have been ill handled in divers Places, and tho oftentimes our Adverſaries have moſt licentiouſly perverted the moſt innocent Expreſſions of our Faith, to render us more odious and criminal.
33. The Lord Galland, his Majeſty's Commiſſioner, requiring that Monſieur Baſtide may be removed from the Church of St. Africk in the Province of Higher Languedoc, becauſe his Deportments in the ſaid Church have been deſtructive to the Publick Peace and Tranquillity: The Aſſembly being informed that the ſaid Baſtide was at preſent a Priſoner, reſolved, That his Majeſty ſhould be moſt humbly petitioned to grant unto him, as well as to all other his Subjects of the Reformed Religion, the Enjoyment of the Benefit of his Edicts, and to ſend him before his proper Judges; and in the mean while it decreeth, that he shall be removed from the Province of Higher Languedoc, and that from this very Inſtant the Exerciſe of his Miniſtry ſhall ceaſe, and be at an end in the ſaid Church of St. Africk; and the ſaid Province is commanded to provide out of hand another Paſtor for it.
CHAP. V. Deputies and a Letter ſent from the Synod unto the King.
34. MOnſieur Amyraud a Paſtor, and de Villars an Elder, were choſen, by plurality of Suffrages, to lay at his Majeſty's Feet the moſt humble and thankful Acknowledgments and Petitions of the Churches; and they had their Inſtructions given them, and Letters unto his Majeſty, and to our Lords, the Principal Miniſters of State.
35. A Copy of the Letter written by the Synod unto the King.
SIRE,
Mr. L'abadie was ordered, and did accordingly draw up this Letter.YOƲR Majeſty having graciouſly permitted us to aſſemble in this Place, as ſoon as we had lifted up our Hands to God in Thankſgivings, for giving us to find Favour in your Majeſty's ſight, our next Care was to render unto your Majeſty, as to the most lively Portraiture of God in Earth, our most humble and thankful Acknowledgments: and we hope that as God, whom your Majeſty repreſents, doth hear the Prayers of his Children, and compaſſionateth them in their Afflictions and Complaints, and mitigateth their Dolours; ſo your Majeſty will be pleaſed to receive, together with the most humble Acknowledgments of our Duty, the Petitions of your poor afflicted Subjects, afflicted in very many and ſundry Ways; and who uſing none other than theſe innocent Means of Petition, do betake themſelves for Sanctuary unto your Majeſty's Royal Goodneſs, and confide wholly in your Majeſty's most Royal Clemency. May it therefore pleaſe your Majeſty to ſuffer the Sieurs Amyraud and de Villars to throw themſelves at your Feet, and to repeat in your Majeſty's hearing the ſincere Proteſtations of our moſt humble Fidelity and Subjection to your Service, and to acquaint your Majeſty with the manifold Violations of your Edicts almoſt in all the Provinces of your Kingdom; whilſt we in our own Names, and of many thouſands of devout Souls profeſſing our holy Religion, and on whoſe behalf, through the Favour of your Majeſty's Paternal Bounty, we are now aſſembled in this National Synod, do continue our Vows and Prayers unto God for the Proſperity of your Sacred Perſon, the Stabliſhment of your Scepter, the upholding of your State, the Triumph of your Armies, and his Benediction upon your Royal Bed, as being,
From Charenton, September 13, 1631. SIRE, Of your Majeſty The moſt humble, the moſt obedient, and moſt faithful Subjects and Servants, The Deputies of the National Synod aſſembled by your Permiſſion at Charenton, and in the Name of them all,
Meſtrezat, Moderator of the Synod.
Jamett, Aſſeſſor.
Blondell Scribe, and
Armet Scribe.